The Edge of the Coin
by Ryoken
Summary: A new vampire enters Nosgoth, and as she tries to decipher everything about her, she meets with Raziel, his brothers, and Kain. Plz R&R. COMPLETE
1. The Edge of the Coin

The Edge of the Coin  
by Ryoken  
  
What was she? That was the only question that flowed through her mind. She couldn't remember much of anything. She knew who she was, that was easy. She was Seacia. But what she was was still a mystery. She looked down at her three claws. She didn't remember having them before. Then the pain started again. It had been constantly bothering her and she couldn't shake it off. Standing up, she thought she might be able to find some food outside of the cave. It was raining hard, and when she tried to go out, the rain burned her. Now why would it do that? I don't recall a little water hurting me before. She tried putting her hand out again, but it burned like acid. She looked at her claws. They looked like they were melting, but they soon regenerated, although very slowly. Hunger hit her again. She felt as though any other human would go mad at this type of confusion she had, but she knew she was perfectly sane. She wished the rain would stop, she might be able to gather more answers. After a few minutes, the rain had stopped. She jumped down from her cave and for a split second she remembered the ground would still be wet, but it was not. It confused her, but she wasn't worried about it.   
In the distance, she could just barely see what looked like the outline of a human. In what only seemed a few steps, she reached the human. She hadn't been detected yet, but for some strange reason, she was compelled to bite his neck. Her hunger pained her harder than ever before, and she decided to let her instincts take control of her actions. With stunning stealth, the human never knew what had happened to him. She drank his blood, while thinking, this is madness! How could I have become a vampire, I cannot recall such events happening to me! Finished with her meal, memories blossomed in her mind. She saw herself, as what appeared to be her human self. Then she saw what looked like a vampire pounce upon her, dragging her into an alley to take her blood. She realized that her attacker was none other than the infamous Kain himself. She clenched her fist so hard she bled. So...he is the reason why I am a vampire. That bastard will pay dearly for this.   
She sniffed the air, her sense of smell had increased dramatically and she could smell the stench of a vampire nearby. She thought she'd surprise the cursed thing with an attack from above. Jumping without effort, she reached the top of an archway and crouched into a pouncing position. Soon her prey was in sight. It was a Melchahim, although how she knew this was unknown to her. Once within range, she leapt with grace and landed on the fledgling's chest on her feet, crushing the thing's rib cage and killing it. She smiled at her first vampiric kill. It wouldn't have been as easy as a human. She kicked its corpse aside, there was no way she would drink the blood of such an ugly thing. Again, she could smell another vampire approaching. Two of them this time, they must have heard the fledgling's bones crack. Thinking how fun this all seemed to be, she leapt back up to her spot and waited for them. They were Dumahim, stronger than the Melchahim by far, but they seemed to be no match for her. She walked on all fours like a hunting cat, with a devious smile on her face as she hid in the shadows. They came upon the corpse of the Melchahim and didn't seem to ponder over it for long. They seemed afraid. Her smile grew bigger and she pounced upon the one nearest her, again, breaking his rib cage and instantly killing him. The other seemed to back away and then an odd thing happened. Seacia let out what sounded like some sort of howling roar at the Dumahim. The Dumahim ran as fast as legs could carry him and she laughed with much more joy than she had felt in a long time. She would have to thank Kain now, it was exhilarating to feel the fear of vampires cower before her. Now sure that the Dumahim would be back with friends, she didn't think it wise to stay here. So she traveled onward. She saw a flag that told her she was in Melchah's territory. Deciding it might be able to befriend the Razielim, she decided to press onward through the Melchahim territory. She went through with relative ease, no one seemed to care that she was here, nor were there many here to care. As she exited through a gate, to her dismay, was at a small lake. How was she to get past this obstacle? Seeing the nearby wall, she tried hooking her claws upon it to climb, but to no avail. She wished at that very moment that she could fly. But then she spotted the tops of the columns stick out from the water. Of course, how could she have so incompetent? They were a bit slippery, but she gained access to a new area. She came to an oval room with the Melchah symbol on opposite sides of the room. She had heard of these before, these were teleportation rooms! At least now getting around would be a bit easier.   
It was then that she smelled it. It was a powerful vampire blood. She couldn't recognize the scent, but she knew she had best hide, it was headed her way. She went outside into the Melchah territory and found an arch that was high and she could see what was going on. With little effort, she jumped onto it. She had just ducked her head when they had come. It was one of Kain's lieutenants, along with some Dumahim vampires and what must have been the one that had gotten away. She had never seen any of the lieutenants before, nor were they ever really spoken of before. She tried to identify the lieutenant, and it smelled of Rahabim. This must have been the great Rahab, the vampire who had the ability to swim the waters of Nosgoth freely without harm. The Dumahim vampire that she had spared seemed to be trying to lead them to where she had met him. Why would a great vampire such as he be trying to find me? Surely I was stronger than fledglings, but not nearly as strong as a lieutenant. She continued to watch, but then to her dismay, Rahab must have smelled her blood because he looked straight at where she was hiding.  
"Show yourself, vampire!" She feared the worst, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't wish to anger him by disobeying. As she stood up, he appeared impressed. He seemed to whisper something to a nearby Dumahim as one of them ran off. "So, you're the one who killed a Melchahim and a Dumahim, eh? Come here so I can get a better look at you." At this statement, there was no doubt in her mind he was going to get rid of her. Carefully jumping down, she reached the ground and Rahab circled her, apparently looking her over. "You show promise, girl. What's your name?"   
"Seacia."  
"Seacia hmm?" His smile chilled her to the bone. "Come with me."  
Surprised that he wasn't going to kill her for killing a fellow vampire, she followed without question, but with little knowledge of where they were going. She soon found out.  
They had reached the place where Kain lived. She was curious and fearful to see how he would react to her, if he even remembered killing her. Soon they had reached the throne room where all of lieutenant were.   
"Stand here." Rahab ordered. Hot with embarrassment from all of the eyes staring at her, she did as she was told. Kain seemed to appear out of the darkness, and when the two stood in the room, all of them were taken aback with surprise. Seacia and Kain had a stunning resemblance to each other, so much in fact you would think they were father and daughter. Seacia could tell her face was getting redder.   
"Are you sure this is the one that bumbling Dumahim told us of, Rahab?" Kain asked, not daring to take his eyes off of her.  
"Yes, Father, the Dumahim confirmed it." Rahab answered as Kain seemed to inspect her. She didn't dare ask a question to him.   
"What is her name?"  
"She says her name is Seacia."  
"Seacia..." He seemed to taste the word as he said it. Then placing a claw under her chin he said, "You'll have to excuse our rudeness, my dear, but you have the most striking resemblance to me." Not daring to speak, she affirmed a nod. "Word of a woman vampire has spread fast, you see, and I had to see for myself if this was entirely possible. Bring him in!!" Turning to see what Kain was looking at, she saw a Dumahim vampire being brought in, the one she had killed and another. He was struggling to break free of the grasp of the two vampire holding him. "Did you kill this vampire?" She could only nod. "Then if would, kill the one that had gotten away." She was surprised that Kain would ask something like that to her, but she obeyed, as a smile crawled upon her face. The chance to show what she made of excited her. Setting up a running position, she thought of something that would be impressive. One...she counted. Kain's smiled faded as a look of fascination crept upon his face...Two...the vampire she was about to kill was trembling in his place...Three!  
Getting a good running pace, she clenched up a fist and punched him in the face, sending him flying into the wall. While stilling running, she ran towards him, grabbed his neck and pushed off the ground, sending her up into the air where she threw him towards the ground. But before the vampire reached the ground, Seacia summoned a ball of energy in her hand and threw it at the vampire, disintegrating it into nothing. She landed hard on the ground right where she had started. Kain and the others were amazed at this feat, and so was Seacia. She didn't even know how she had conjured up that ball of energy at the end. "How did you do that?" Kain demanded.   
"I-I have no idea..."  
"You have to know, how else could you have done it, child?"  
"I d-don't..." Seacia tried to say as she slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
"Seacia...are you alright?" Said Kain. He and his "sons" were gathered around her.  
"...Huh?" Suddenly realized she was surrounded, she tried to stand up as fast as possible, only to fall back down again. Leeching with pain, she tried not to show it, but Kain read her expression.  
"Here," Kain offered. He held out his slit wrist with blood flowing from it. She and the other vampires were extremely surprised that such a powerful vampire such as Kain would do such a thing, but she took his offer. He seemed to have a squirmish look on his face. Not wanting to offend him, she tried not to take much. She stood up with just enough strength to show that she was well again. I really gotta kill a human or two when I get outta here, she thought.   
"Now then, how did you manage such a feat, Seacia? I've never seen anything like it." To be truthful, she had no idea. But she knew that he didn't like the answer 'no'.  
"I don't know, really. I didn't even plan to do something like that."  
"That is fine. I'm sure you'll know, in time. The rest of you are excused." The lieutenants were shocked. They wanted to know what would happen next, but decided it was best not to upset him, and left. "I would like to offer you an alliance, Seacia." He had her complete attention. "You would make a power ally to my clans and I'm sure you would be content amongst the other higher-ranking vampires. You need not decide immediately, just think about it." And he vanished. She was about to agree without one thought, but then thought it wise not to accept so suddenly. She was still confused about many things and needed some answers to questions, such as why Kain would kill a normal human and then ask to have her become a leading vampire amongst his most high-ranking vampires? But first, she needed to feed.  
She exited the way she came, and had to go past the lieutenants. She suspected they had tried to listen in on her conversation with Kain. Trying not to look at them, she was about to get of the place when one of them placed their hand on her shoulder. "Hold it." Caught unsurprised by this action, she turned to face the vampire, Zephon. "What are you, really? You must be something else if you were able to do that."   
"I am a vampire, and that is all there is to it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go."  
"Oh really now? To where?"  
"Out."  
"Out where?" He didn't seem too happy at that response.  
"I don't know, just to think."  
"You can do plenty of thinking here."  
"Yes, but this place doesn't have my answers."  
"To what, girl? You're not really a vampire, are you?! Admit it!" This outraged her.  
"I am a vampire and you know it, flat-face!" She knew she shouldn't have called him that, but she couldn't help it. Many oooh's and she's gonna get it's came from the others.  
"W-What did you call me?!"  
"Flat-face, are you deaf?" With that, he tried to punch her face in, but she caught it.  
"H-How did you do that??" He asked angrily as he tried to pull his hand away.  
"At this point, I don't give a damn...and neither should you." She narrowed her eyes and turned a half-circle, throwing him towards the wall. When he hit it, he left big cracks in the wall and was obviously unconscious. Turning to the others, she said ,"If anyone would like to join him, speak now or forever hold your damned mouth shut." None of them spoke and they backed up about a hundred steps from her. She then exited the building.  
  
Now that she had experienced one of Kain's lieutenants, she was doubtful of joining him. They didn't seem to like her as much as Kain did. Wondering where she could find some human to feed upon, she decided it best to head towards the human citadel. She had begun to start heading towards the mountains when a voice from behind stopped her. She spun around to see another one of the lieutenants trying to catch up to her. She didn't really know them very well by facial features or by the scent of their blood, but she sensed this was Raziel, the most favored of Kain's sons. "Wait a moment, Seacia. I just wanted to apologize for my brother's rude behavior. He doesn't trust newcomers very much."  
"You needn't apologize, Raziel." She didn't say anything more and began to walk away from him.  
"Will you tell me where you're going?"  
"Around."  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"Let's just say I'm looking for answers to questions that you wouldn't posses.  
"I see." And he turned to return to Kain's crumbling palace.  
"If you really want to know, Raziel, he asked me to become a lieutenant, like you." Then she hurriedly went towards the human citadel. He turned to look at her, but she was gone. A lieutenant?! Kain wouldn't appoint just anyone to that high a rank in such a short time. He decided to see for himself what Kain saw in her.  
Reaching the short end of her planned journey, she was above the abyss, it's swirling waters hypnotizing. She could only see two other directions in which to go and she sensed none of them led directly to the human citadel. But she could smell human blood at a distance from her right, and also that of another vampire. She could tell Raziel was following her by how close his scent was, but she thought exposing him wouldn't be at all fun. So she decided to follow the human scent into Raziel's territory, her hunger growing stronger by the minute.  
Why would she be going to my territory? Surely there are no answers there...would there?  
In Raziel's territory, she could smell the blood of the Razielim, and the scent of Raziel's blood more than ever. They willingly let her pass, seeing as they could sense their master was somewhat there. She reached the spot where human blood smelled strongest and spotted a hunter, guarding a sort of entrance. Climbing to a nearby ledge, she concealed herself so that hunter couldn't spy her from his position. A few seconds after, she leaped out from the ledge and plummeted to hunter. When the hunter finally saw her, it was too late. She was already feeding on his neck and he was dead. Once finished, a strange sensation came over her. It made her dizzy and she began to wobble around as she tried to walk. Soon, darkness began to swallow her vision and she knew what was happening. She then blacked out.  
  
She was walking along a street. It wasn't that of the human citadel, but at the same time, it was the citadel. It was dark, suggesting that it was night, and she was all alone. She then sensed that she wasn't alone on that dark street. A vampire leapt out of a nearby alley and snatched her right off of her feet. She saw the vampire and knew that it was Kain. But instead of biting her neck, he paused, sniffing her. "The power within you is great, I can tell." He said. "But you don't seem to be able to awaken it in this weak human form, little one. Allow me to assist you and I can help you manifest it, but only if you agree." Letting her go, she felt the urge to run, but she did not. A great power? In me? Without thinking enough, she nodded, and he killed her. He killed her and turned me into a vampire. He began to drink her blood, and she could feel her spirit leave this place. The last thing she could recall before completely slipping away was Kain slitting his own wrist and letting the blood drip onto her face.  
  
"Seacia, Seacia, wake up!" Someone was yelling at her. She opened her eyes to unsurprisingly see Raziel trying to shake her back in consciousness.   
"Wha-What happened?"   
"You fell unconscious after feeding. One of my servants found you here and came to get me."  
"You needn't lie to me, Raziel. I knew you were there the entire time."  
"How could you have known that?"  
"I could smell your blood." He looked half surprised and half satisfied.   
"I see. What did you dream?"  
"I dreamt of my past. My human past."  
"And what did you see?"  
"Kain and myself. I agreed to let him kill me and turn me into what I have become."  
"Sounds intriguing. You will have to ask the Master about it."  
"Perhaps. And perhaps not."  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"What I mean is that the future may hold my answers, not the past."  
"Bah, I despise riddles." Then Raziel began to sway.   
"Raziel, what's wrong?"  
"My...state of transformation...is beginning. I didn't...think it would begin this...soon..." He had a hard time keeping his balance. "Seacia, get one of my servants...hurry..." He said as he sank to his knees. She ran as fast she could to nearest Razielim that she saw and quickly told him what was happening. With a flick of the Razielim's hand, he and other Razielim had gathered to where their master now tried to get back up. Having them lean on their shoulders, Seacia watched as Raziel was led to his quarters. As he past her, she could've sworn she saw his eyes dart towards her for a brief moment.   
  
"Our master is in his state of change. He won't be emerging for quite some time." The Razielim told her.  
"How long?"   
"Many, many years, Milady."  
"Thank you." And she left the Razielim clan territory towards the Lake of the Dead. She somehow sensed that an answer laid to left of Raziel's land.   
Upon reaching the lake, she began to get dizzy again, but she didn't want to black out in such an open place where humans might discover her. Seeing an etch in the cliff big enough to hide her entirely, she jumped to it just in time. She soon passed out.  
  
She dreamt of nothing. If she did, she could not recall what they were. It was a dreamless sleep. Although boring, it was also a bit frightening. There was nothing but blackness all around. But then a light blinded the darkness and she was now awake. It was lightly raining, and the sky was a dull shade of gray. It was night when she had fallen unconscious, and it had been a cloudless sky at the time. She wondered how much time had passed, but ignored it completely when she felt something strange about herself. There was something different, like something had grown from her. She felt a small brushing touch on the side of arm and when she looked at what had touched her, the sight made her gasp. During the time she had "slept", she had grown a tail! Her mouth gaped open at the sight. I guess the small handful of victims Kain turned into vampires were also given gifts. It was an unusual feeling, it seemed strange that this was now a part of her. She dared to touch it and it gave her a tingling sensation. It seemed to have a mind of its own, but she could somewhat control what it did if she wished to. Through looking over her new "gift", she decided to ask a Razielim how long it had been. She jumped down and she felt herself slow down and not touch the ground. She was hovering over the ground and she thought that she must have been given the gift of flight as well, but without the need for wings. This gift she was more fascinated with. She tried to control her movements, but it was quite difficult to do. She'd get the hang of it, she thought. Right now, knowing how long she was gone was more important. She headed to the gate that was supposed to keep others out and searched for a Razielim. It wasn't long before she found one.  
"Excuse me, but-"  
"Milady! It's been so long since our last meeting!" It was the vampire that told what had been going on the other day.  
"Greetings, old friend. How long has it been?"  
"About a century. Where have you been?"  
"Asleep. I think. Has Raziel awoken?"  
"No, still he sleeps. You were asleep as well?" She explained what had happened and the new gifts that were given to her, exposing the tail she had hid underneath her cloak. "My word, Milady. I've ne'er seen such changes before." He said as he watched her hover in the air.  
"Yes, and I still haven't really gotten the hang of flying like this," she replied as she landed.  
"Well, you are most welcome to stay here, if you wish."  
"No, I still have not accomplished what I left to do."  
"Then I shall see you in he future then." And she turned and left.  
Now that she was wide awake, she was annoyed to find her hunger swell up in her. She had no time to waste in discovering what lied in the north and decided to postpone a feeding. Thinking she could get there faster by flying, she tried out her newly acquired ability. She could've gotten there faster on foot. It was like learning to walk all over again. She practiced a bit, then thinking she had gotten the gist of it, tried to go north. Although she did end up going in that general direction, she somersaulted the entire way. When finally stopped, she felt very sick. She had to rest a moment before she tried again, now heading west. This time she didn't do one single somersault. In fact, she now knew how to control herself. She found it easiest to push off of an object to get her going. So, pushing off of the nearby mountain which had stopped her somersaulting flight, she glided to a large sundial. She landed and saw that an entry way was open. She entered and made her way down into the Chronoplast. She walked into the center of the room and looked around her. It was an odd contraption. Dials and a most strange-looking object on the ceiling were all that she could see. But then she saw the portal. It was on the third floor of that place, but she reached it fast. She touched it, but it did not hurt. She entered and everything was bright, but not blinding. She then saw things. Visions. Visions of the future. Raziel standing in the middle of Kain's throne room. He spread out what his change had given him: wings. They were beautiful and he deserved such an honorable gift. Kain then ripped the bones from them, sending Raziel into a world of agony. And then she saw Kain order Raziel to be cast into the Abyss.   
"Stop it! Stop these visions! No more!" She screamed into emptiness. The last vision she saw was poor Raziel falling to his doom. And then it all faded and she was back in the Chronoplast. No. I will NOT allow Kain to do this to him! He had no right to kill him without good reason and he had done no wrong. Determined to change his fate, Seacia headed out of the Chronoplast, and in pursuit of Kain.  
  
"KAIN!!" She yelled as she pushed the vampire guards out of her way.   
"Don't you dare! You can't come here unless the Master, Kain, summons you!" One of the guards said before he was pushed into the nearby water.   
"I have good reason too be here, fool." She slammed the gate to the throne room itself open and called out his name once again, but even louder. She saw him there, just lounging on his throne without a care in the world and probably fully aware of what he was going to do to Raziel once he emerged from his sleep. "TRAITOR!!!" She yelled as she leapt for his throat. He, of course, evaded her attack, although narrowly.   
"Why do you call me a traitor, Seacia? I have done no wrong."  
"THAT is where you are wrong, Kain!! I saw what happens in the future when Raziel awakens, you hypocrite!!" She again leapt for where she sensed him, and caught him off guard. Gagging, he tried to speak.  
"You may have seen what happens, but you know nothing of the reason."  
"Yes I do, Kain. You kill him upon jealousy, as you aren't darkly blest with such a wondrous gift!" She then threw him like a rag doll towards a pillar. Some vampires came in to see what was happening and quickly ran, obviously to inform their masters.   
"No, foolish girl. That isn't the reason at all."  
"Then what, Kain? What in damned hell could the reason be for killing him?!"  
"Destiny, Seacia. It is not by my free will that I destroy him. Fate brings me to kill him." Seacia staggered back, pondering over these words. "Now, leave. If you wish, you can just try to manipulate fate. Raziel will emerge soon and you can see for yourself that we have no choice when the Wheel of Fate turns." Not knowing what to do or say, she idiotically stood there as Kain's sons Rahab, Melchah, Zephon, and Turel appeared in the throne room. Thinking that she was going to kill their surrogate father, they attacked her. She realized what was happening, and pushed off of the ground to escape her attackers. Amazed at her new power, they watched as she flew off in the direction Raziel's province. "No, do not follow her. She merely has misunderstood, and she will learn in time." Kain said as his sons started to go after her. "This is something that I hope she can learn amongst everything that is to happen." He whispered to himself.  
Stumbling out of the chamber and back into the land of Nosgoth, Seacia was drunk with confusion. You can't control your own destiny? That's impossible, she argued. Then she decided to take matters into her own hands. If Kain is going to damn Raziel to ageless torment, I'll be waiting for the correct moment in which to swipe him from his doom. He doesn't deserve such a wretched fate, and she turned and faced to her destined direction.   
Remembering Kain's words about Raziel awakening soon, she rushed to the Abyss. Maybe I can stop him from seeing Kain. When she reached the gate, the nearest Razielim told her that he still was asleep. Deciding to take advantage of the free time it now gave her, she thought it best to perfect her new ability.  
She soared above the clouds, but always watched carefully at the ground below for any activity. It appeared that she was able to sense movement from great distances as well. Diving towards the ground, it seemed almost impossible to pull up, but she did so, and with grace and agility. It was an incredible feeling to soar above everything. Now assured that her flying would successfully aid her in her planned rescue, she felt compelled to feed. She quickly sniffed the air and headed northwest. She soon found a vulnerable human and quickly fed. She wanted to return as soon as possible. She returned to what looked like chaos.   
"What has happened??" She asked a nearby Razielim who was scurrying around like a little mouse like the rest of them.  
"He woke up just minutes after you left!" he said with a small smile on his face and then ran off. Although the Razielim may have been happy, she was not. His fate was about to unfold. She decided to hide in nearby shadows, he might question her if he saw her. She'd able to see all that happened and saw Raziel enter the courtyard. And she saw them. The very things that were to cause Raziel's demise. His wings. Although elegant and beautiful, from a vampire's point of view, she knew they would bring death and destruction instead of happiness. He stretched them out, their wing span more than half as long as he was tall. So proud and satisfied with his new gift, she hoped he enjoyed it while it lasted. But instead of heading towards Kain's headquarters, he flew into the sky. How she was able to gather enough strength to stop herself from joining him, she did not know. She watched him fly around for a bit and land back on the ground. Then he headed for Kain's domain. This was what she had been waiting for. She followed him all the way to the entrance of Kain's palace, but didn't enter. It would be futile to save him there with the other lieutenants around to easily stop her. She grimaced as she heard his cry of agony. Knowing that they were going to bring him to the abyss soon, she carefully hid herself among the rocks, close enough to the edge to catch him and yet be able to see their movements. She was ready when they approached the abyss.  
"Cast him in!" Kain said. She saw Raziel struggle against his brothers just before they threw him in. That was her cue. She jumped from her hiding place, pushing as hard as she could off of the rocks. He was falling faster than she expected him to. She drew close enough to grab him and caught his ankle. She did it, she had saved Raziel from his fate. But his face was mere inches away from hitting the water. It was difficult to hang onto him.  
"Raziel, give me your hand," she said as she was trying to hang on with one hand and reaching out towards him with her other. He seemed to be in pain every time he moved. He reached towards her hand and she had to re-adjust her hold on his ankle, but she got it. Letting go of his ankle, she quickly grabbed his hand with her other hand. "Don't let go of me, ok Raziel?" He nodded in affirmation. Slowly, she started fly upwards to the platform that rose out of the middle of the abyss. But then her hand started to slip. "Oh damn, I'm losing my grip." She tried to speed up flying to the platform, but that only made him slip faster. "Give me your other hand." She feared for a moment that she might totally drop him, but she grabbed his other hand quickly enough that she didn't. She again slowly rose to the platform, and was suddenly struck by a sharp object when she reached the top. Kain had apparently known what she was going to do and had left Dumah there to kill her if she succeeded. He had pierced her through her heart with a spear. Instead of dying instantly or within a few seconds, the surprise attack had frozen her in place with fear. Though she then began to slowly fall, her hands never let go of Raziel's. Seeing what had happened, he tried to stop himself by digging his claws into the small ground which was the only structure for the platform, but unsuccessfully. Desperately, he pulled the spear out of Seacia's lifeless body. She was brought back to consciousness too late. They both burned in agony, the acidic water slowly eating away their flesh. Now she knew that Kain was right. You can't change your fate, but, was it her destiny to plummet into this burning hell after failing to save Raziel? As her mind was ripped from her, she knew she would have to take this agony, and wait. 


	2. The Edge of the Coin II

Ryoken- One needn't be it to love it.  
  
The Edge of the Coin III  
By Ryoken  
She fell deeper and deeper into what seemed to be an eternity of pain. She didn't bother to try and fight against it. She was soon drifting to the ground, still in horrible pain. Her surroundings shifted drastically, and she was in a room. Everything was blue and there were green balls of mist floating around. She looked around her surroundings and saw two entrances blocked by dark blue barriers. Suddenly, one of the gates disappeared and a blue, misshapen figure walked in. He leaned against a nearby pillar, apparently weak.  
"The old hunger has left me. I have no desire for blood." He seemed to speak to no one, but she knew immediately that this was Raziel. She tried to call out to him, but nothing came out. She looked at herself and saw that she was a mere soul. She began to feel compelled to go to Raziel, but she thought better of it. Instead, she floated through the other barrier and into another room. She backed quickly away when she saw what was inside. Odd creatures were devouring the other souls in the room, just as Raziel had done. Was he one of these things? She shivered at the thought. No, there must be another reason. Soon she heard his footsteps behind her and tried to float across the room without the creatures seeing her. Successful, she glanced back at Raziel, who was fighting the creatures. She watched his every move up until he swallowed them. Then he seemed to look up at her. Or at the exit, but it didn't matter because she hurriedly flew out of his view.  
After a few minutes in the cave-like place, she came out into the real Nosgoth. Raziel wasn't far behind. He approached a blue spiral in the middle a circle of pillars. She went up right behind him and he did some sort of movement with his hands. When she had "touched" him, she manifested with him. The world around her changed and there was finally color. She looked at herself and found she had her old form again, but she was still a spirit. A soul.  
He didn't seem to notice her as he headed away from her. She followed behind him and when he came upon what looked like two disfigured vampires, she continued on. She emerged in front of the Sanctuary of the Clans. She knew her body wasn't far away. She floated down to the other side of the lake where she sensed her body and found it. It was mostly bones. She would have sighed if she could breathe. She could sense Raziel approaching, but made no move to hide herself. There was no reason to, and she doubt that he could reach her on the other side of the lake. Even if he did, he would probably only make it as far as the water and he would not last long. So, feeling utterly helpless, she wondered how long it had been since she fell into the abyss. Now that she could not die again, she had no need to fear Kain or his other lieutenants and felt brave enough to speak to the Lord of the Vampires.  
Just as she had floated into the barred gate, Raziel caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. It couldn't have been what I thought it was, she's dead. And he moved on.  
Seeing as she could apparently be invisible, she disappeared into thin air when she reached the door to where she would find Kain. She wanted to see a look of fright on his face. When she entered, she saw him sitting on his throne, apparently with no one else here or with anything to do. She decided to have a little fun with him and pulled his hair.  
"Ariel, what the hell are you doing?" Ariel? Who was Ariel?  
"What do you mean, Kain? I haven't done anything." Another ghostly figure such as herself appeared. This must be Ariel. She only had one eye and appeared sad all of the time.  
"Yes you have, you little wench! You pulled my hair!"  
"I did nothing of the sort, it was her, not I."  
"Her? What do you mean her? Have you finally lost your poor little mind?"  
"No, Kain. She pulled you hair, not me. She's standing right in front of you."  
"I think you're making up an excuse. Now get out of my sight." And she disappeared. My what fun this was. She then decided to scare him a bit. She slowly picked up his sword, the soul reaver, so as not to make a sound or have him realize what was going on. Then she heard a faint whisper. I wouldn't do that if I were you. But she ignored the warning that Ariel gave her and as soon as she had full possession of it, it was time for a little revenge.   
She held up the sword in front of Kain and tried to speak in a voice of a man. "Prepare to die, fiend!" She cried as she swung out without much skill. He ducked and the sword cut off a few of his hairs.   
"Ariel, stop this nonsense immediately!" Ariel appeared before him and said  
"This is none of my doing, as I told you before."  
"Who is this?!"  
"I believe it is Seacia."  
"Seacia?!?!" He said as he ducked again. "Seacia, stop this right now!" To gain a good yet funny, which no one laughed at, effect, she stopped the sword in mid-air. "Now, why in hell are you trying to kill me?" Seacia decided to make her appearance and appeared before Kain while leaning the soul reaver on her shoulder.   
"I did it to see a look of fear upon your smug face, Kain."   
"Oh is that all? I thought you were trying to gain revenge."  
"No. Trying to save Raziel taught me that vengeance solves nothing and it cannot change the past."  
"I am glad that you learned this lesson well, Seacia. I knew you'd have a clear enough mind to realize this. Tell me, why did you want to try and save Raziel? I know there is more to it than that it was unfair." A look of surprise came over her. She had never though about there being another side to it. She must have been too filled with anger to think about if there was another reason for her actions.  
"If there is another reason, Kain, I am afraid I cannot tell you what I don't know."  
"I know that deep down you know the reason, Seacia. Perhaps this simple sentence will bring about the reason: You love him." It hit her like a brick wall. Love? She didn't think vampires were capable of it.  
"I most certainly do not. I've never even heard of vampires ever being in love before."  
"True, very true. Although we vampires have no need for the same means of human reproduction, it's still not entirely impossible for vampires to fall in love."  
"It would be the same as saying that souls found their mates when they were dead instead of alive. It's absurd."  
"Not entirely, Seacia. Now, I suggest that you return my sword to me and we will discuss this further later. Your love approaches." She didn't know why, but she hastily gave him the sword and vanished. She turned to see Raziel entering the room and he Kain got into a heated argument. After he had killed Raziel, Kain had apparently killed off Raziel's kin as well. Kain and Raziel battled, but Kain seemed to be the winner of the quick match and smashed his sword upon Raziel's head. Instead of seeing Raziel's head shattering to pieces, the sword broke instead. Seacia watched as Raziel faded from her view, utterly bewildered as Kain then disappeared into nothingness. All alone now, it seemed like she would have to wander back into Nosgoth's desolate terrain, but then she heard voices. She thought she was going crazy, but it was the voices of Raziel and Ariel. She couldn't see them, but she could plainly hear them. They spoke of how Raziel must kill Kain and set Ariel free of her imprisonment to the pillars and about how the soul reaver was now intertwined with Raziel. The Kain part she understood, but not the part about the soul reaver. But she decided not to concern herself with it. Instead, she began to wander out into Nosgoth, back towards her body.  
She sat there on ground next to the little pool of water that had her bones decaying in it. She seemed to sit there for hours upon hours, days upon days. Until she saw him. Raziel was emerging from the entrance to his territory and he seemed stronger. He glided to the platform nearest her and then glided towards her. She stood up, amazed at what he was going to do, and then plummeted into that pool of water where her body lay. Instead of him dissolving, he was swimming! She thought only Rahab had this ability, but somehow Raziel had obtained it. He swam towards her, although he couldn't see her, and then he stopped. He acted as though someone were speaking to him and he looked down into the water towards her skeleton. He swam towards it and seemed to examine it. Then the oddest thing happened. The skeleton got up. It then tried to claw Raziel, but he got out of the way and jumped onto the ground Seacia stood on.   
"What sorcerer dares to do this to her?!" He seemed to yell out. He had no time to listen for an answer as the skeleton jumped from the water and clawed his face. Helpless to do anything, Seacia could only watch as he battled the remains of her body. Raziel seemed to grow weaker with every strike the skeleton got, but yet the skeleton didn't seemed weakened at all. Seacia thought of only one thing to do. She made herself visible and rammed into the skeleton of herself. Seacia appeared to vanish as she entered her bones. The skeleton gripped it's head, tearing at it as if to rip something out of it's skull. Then it fell to the ground. Slowly, it again rose, but it didn't attack Raziel. In fact, it was swerving about as if it were drunk as hell.   
"Ra-z-iel. It'-s me, S-eac-cia," the skeleton tried to say. Struck with surprise, Raziel could only stand back. "I can't h-old it-t back for m-uch lo-n-ger. Plea-se, dest-roy me."  
"No. There must be a way to help you without destroying you."  
"Indeed there is, Raziel," Came a voice. The Elder spoke to him with words that only he could hear. "Find blood enough for three humans and feed it to her. She would then be completely restored and in control. Or at least I believe it will work."  
"And if it doesn't? Then what will happen?"  
"She will either continue to be this way, or she will be restored and the demon will be in control."  
"I'm willing to take a chance."  
"Then go, Raziel."   
"Seacia, stay here and try not to let it take over your actions. I'll be back." And he set off to look for the blood he now needed.  
Alone on the path, she sank to her knees, doing her best to keep the monster at bay. She could only wonder in her pain what was going to happen. Sometime she would have to ask Kain all about it.   
Some four hours passed by. It was an eternity for Seacia. Then she could sense Raziel's life force, as he had no more blood, along with what seemed several live humans. Live humans? I guess he wants me to gain blood without killing them.  
"Seacia, I'm here. I am sorry I took so long, it was difficult to persuade some human friends of mine to help you. Only drink some of their blood, I by no means want to kill them," Raziel said as one of them held out a wrist. By this time, she felt too weak from fighting to move. "Seacia? Seacia, are you alright?" She finally gained enough strength just to move her head towards him in acknowledgement.   
"Damn monster's...so hard...to...to fight..." She said. She summoned up the strength to move her head just enough to bite the man's wrist. When she drank, she could feel her strength returning, and she wanted to drain every ounce of blood she could from the human. She let go and her body seemed re-grow. Although it came with pain, muscles seemed to grow back a little. After feeding what blood she was allowed to drink, she grew more and more of her vampiric self back until she was completely restored. The demon's ability to fight had weakened until it went away completely. When she stood up, she was unused to not being in her body and she swerved dangerously near the pool of water, but Raziel caught her and supported her.   
"Thank you, my friends. I owe you a debt of gratitude."  
"Don' worry about it, Raziel. Just stick to your word, alright?"  
"Anything."  
"We'll be seeing you around then," they said as they left to the citadel. Alone, she thought about what Kain had said in his throne room to her. Even if she wasn't in love, Raziel's recent heroics proved that he must be. Exasperated from fighting such demons, she wanted to sleep. It was hard enough to keep her balance.  
"Seacia, try and stand up."  
"I am trying to stand up. I just c-can't seem to kee-keep my balance."  
"Then sit down and rest. Sleep, if you must," he said as he helped her sit back on the ground. "I must go after Kain and my brother, Dumah. I will kill them both and return hither." She barely heard the words as she fell into a deep slumber.  
  
She dreamt of nothing. When she awoke, she found herself still in the exact same spot, unmoved. She had regained full control of her body again, but she knew something happened. Surprisingly to her, the hunger for blood was completely gone, as if she had somehow fed while she slept, or had had a great feast of blood. She tried to sense Raziel as she knew that the Chronoplast was not far, but she could find no trace of him. Fearing the worst, she tried to sense Kain, but also, could not sense him. Something most definitely happened. The only place to really look was the Chronoplast. As fast as she could, she ran to the room where she saw Raziel's fate of death. When she reached it, the contraption seemed to be operating. Seeing the yellow glow of the portal, she didn't think she had much choice in the matter if she wanted to find Raziel or Kain. She stepped into the portal and, instead of visions, she emerged in a small room with an infinity sign on the floor. The light disintegrated and she saw no one in the room. But she could smell a human nearby. Though not hungry, she believed this human would know where Raziel was. She approached the only exit in the room and the doors slid open. Standing near the doors was the human she smelled. His blood smelled of treachery and deceit.   
"Who, who are you?!" In her opinion, he seemed more like a mouse, what with this high-pitched squeaky voice that he had.   
"Your worst nightmare if you don't tell me what I want to know," Seacia said as she, within a second, grabbed the man by his throat. "Now, where is Raziel?"  
"He, has left."  
"To where?"  
"I don't know." She could sense what a lie that was. She squeezed his neck.  
"Wrong answer."  
"Alright," he gagged. "I sent him into, the future."  
"He is not in the future, or else I would have sensed him."  
"Not, your future, but another."  
"Then show me," she said as she threw him down.  
"If you want even a chance of catching up to him, that is not the way to do it. If you want to catch him so badly, then I suggest you go to the past."  
"Who in hell are you anyway, old man?"  
"I am the Time Streamer, Moebius," he said as he picked himself up with trouble.  
"No wonder your blood smells so strongly of betrayal. Although I will take your advise, what is to stop you from sending me to where I do not wish to go?"  
"Nothing."  
"Then I bid you farewell, Time Streamer."  
"Tell me, how is it that I have never seen you in the streams of time? I know of every event that is to befall this land, yet I have ne'er seen the likes of you. Are you Kain's daughter, or merely just another of his dogs?" Her eyes turning blood red at what she took as a great insult, she picked him up and put her claws in a position ready to rip out his throat.   
"Moebius, if you so ever say something like that again to me, I will rip you limb from limb." She then threw him across the room and left.  
"She is a flaw in my master's plans. I wonder who she could possibly be, and why I have never seen her in my visions."  
Outside of that vile snake's reach, she saw a stained glass window nearby and simply smashed it to get out. She flew to the north until she came upon a swamp. A crumbling mansion now stood before her, and she smell the blood of human hunters around, and a faint hint of a vampire. She found it odd that in this time, the vampires didn't seem to be the hunters anymore. They were the prey. She tried to follow the scent of the vampire, but he apparently knew she was here, and did not wish to appear before her. Then there was only one alternative: sneaking upon him. She was very good at this as she let the shadows engulf her so as not to be seen. She climbed the walls of the mansion, the occasional human seeing her and staring in disbelief. She finally reached just below where she sensed him and jumped up on the balcony rail to see the vampire face to face.  
"Where do you get such gumption to scare a poor old vampire such as myself, young one?" He said, gasping from the fright.  
"I apologize, friend, but it was necessary to speak to you."  
"I would have revealed myself to you."  
"How was I to know this?" He shook his head in idiocy.   
"Who are you, child of shadows?"  
"I am known as Seacia."  
"You resemble that arrogant fool, Kain. You must be somehow related, although you give much more respect."  
"The only relation we have is that he turned me into what I have become. Blood wise, we are not related."  
"That is surprising, Seacia. Why do you come here? You don't seem the adventuring, risk-taking, daredevil type."  
"I am here in search of friend. It is a long story, but he seems to be in the future. I did not wish to risk being betrayed by Moebius."  
"So, you are wise as well. This friend must be of importance to you then if you have come out here."  
"Yes, he is. I get the feeling that you met him."  
"Impossible, child. The only thing closest to a vampire that I have met in a while was disfigured and more demon-like."  
"That would be him." He seemed startled.  
"This, demon, was your friend?"  
"Yes. Have you any information to give me?"  
"Not any that would be of use to you or him now. I told him of my maker, Janos Audrin, and he seemed to take great interest in him. Janos couldn't help him anyway. He died a long time ago at the hands of the Sarafan."  
"The...Sarafan? The name seems familiar, but I cannot place it. Who were they?"  
"Vampire hunters of the past. The vampire hunters you see now are what they have become."  
"I see. That explains everything."  
"What does it explain?"  
"Why Raziel is trying to get to the past. He wishes to speak to Janos and the only way to do it is go to the past. That's why Moebius said to go to the past instead of the future. I apologize again for my rudeness, but I didn't get the chance to ask your name."  
"I am Vorador." She took a few steps, obviously surprised by the name. She bowed to him in respect. She never dreamed she would meet one of the strongest vampire warriors of all time. He chuckled and said, "Rise, Seacia. My hold upon the fear of humans has long since past, and I must hide here in order to be safe from them."  
"I thank you, Vorador, for the help you have given me, but, would you happen to know of way that I can travel to the past?"  
"Somewhat, yes. Do you see the cracked door with the sign of infinity?"  
"Yes."  
"I believe that to be a time chamber that Moebius built long ago. I'm not sure if it still works or if it works, nor do I know how to operate it, but I think it will help you find your way to Raziel." He vanished into air.  
I can trust a fellow vampire such as Vorador, and she flew at the door, ramming it open. She walked down the staircase and reached a time chamber similar to the one where she met Moebius. Hoping it would lead her to the past, she turned it, not knowing how she knew what to do, and the room spun around her into a blur. She then landed on the floor and immediately tried to find Raziel. She jumped in delight when she sensed his presence. He was far, but she could catch up to him in no time. Flying out of the room and into the air, she went to the mountains in the direction of where she sensed Raziel. She flew to a small lake that was frozen over and landed on the ice. In front of her stood a large picture of a vampire carved into the mountain. It would be an easy task to reach the top, where she could sense Raziel and another presence, obviously Janos. Instead of immediately heading up, she heard footsteps on the ice. Human footsteps, no doubt, as vampires walked without sound. She turned to face ten humans in armor, all of which seemed to be trying to surprise and kill her. They started to run towards her to impale her, but she just flew up into the sky. They stared at amazement as she tried to make their petty lives more enjoyable before they died by doing loops in the air. While doing this, she must have gained the attention of Raziel and Janos as she caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of her eye. She landed on a piece of stone sticking out of the frozen lake and howled inhumanely. Then something came over her. A wave of uncontrollable madness at something, but she didn't know what. She couldn't control these feelings and they took over her actions. She stopped doing loops and flew just above the humans. Her eyes were glowing red once more. Then she began to let out energy in a destructive form at them. Trying to dodge in their heavy armor, they just barely missed them. Then she flew a bit higher. She raised her arms above her head and a big ball of energy formed in above her hands. She leaned back and threw it at them. It only took two of them down into the lake as the ice broke.  
"Seacia!" The sound of Raziel's voice relieved the rage that had somehow swelled up in her and she stopped what she was doing. Turning upwards to look at him, she gracefully flew up to the balcony and landed on the rail. "Seacia, how did you get here??" he asked.  
"It is a very long story, Raziel."  
"And I am sure there will be time enough later to hear it," Janos said. "You have amazing powers, Seacia. How did you ever manage to obtain them?"  
"I seem to have been blest with them, Janos."  
"I see." Just then, banging on the door was heard. "Raziel, I suggest that you go. Take the reaver and your friend and leave this place. It appears that it is not safe here anymore."   
"No Janos! I will stay here and defend you, we both will!" Raziel argued.  
"Seacia?" She again lost control of herself as she grabbed the reaver from its resting place and then to Raziel. She didn't know how, but Janos seemed to be controlling her as she took him by the arm and pulled him over the side of the railing with her.  
"No, Janos!!" They landed on the ice just as they heard Janos's ghastly screams. "Why, Seacia?! We could have saved him and yet you made me leave his side!!"  
"I don't think I had much choice, Raziel. I had no control over myself, just as I had attacked those same humans earlier."  
"What?! But how..."  
"Listen to me, Raziel. Janos did it for a good reason. We should repay the favor by taking his murder's lives." He agreed and they went back up to the balcony on foot.   
They had gotten there too late. The murders were gone and Janos was dead, his heart ripped out.  
"Janos...I will avenge your death. Come on, Seacia," Raziel said with rage so menacing. She followed without question or comment, not even suggesting that they fly there. She didn't know why, but somehow, she must have been so enraged that she wasn't able to think.  
Soon they arrived at the Sarafan Stronghold, its towering walls overhead daring them to breach it. "Can you get us inside?" Raziel said maddeningly.  
"Of course I can." Seacia took hold of Raziel and flew speedily into the courtyard where Melchah and Zephon, as humans, awaited them.  
"Foolish vampires! Do you truly believe that you can get past us?!" Melchah said.  
Eyes glowing with steam pouring from them, Raziel answered "Yes."  
"Ha! The devil thinks he can do whatever he wishes, we'll show you and that wench that filthy vampires such as yourselves are blasphemies in Nosgoth!" Charging at Raziel and Seacia, the two Sarafan warriors let out their battle cry and before they ever got near them, Seacia had jumped to their sides, wrenched their weapons from their hands, and impaled them both.  
"Well, that's one way of doing it," Raziel said, his rage subsiding for a moment to gaze at the agile work of Seacia.  
"Come on, we have to find the rest of blood bastards, although I doubt they are very far from where we stand." They hurried to the Cathedral where they then met Dumah and Rahab.  
"Come to take back his bloody heart? You will have to get past us first!" Dumah yelled as they ran towards the pair.  
"Please, be my guest, Seacia," Raziel said as he bowed to her.  
"You are most kind, Raziel," she said just as she leapt over the two running Sarafan, turned, and stuck her claws wrist-deep into their armored backs.  
"You know, perhaps you should learn to be a bit more tidy when you kill someone," Raziel commented, a small smile would have been on his face, had he still facial features.  
"You one to talk, Raziel." She joked. They passed the two gates leading to the upper chapel and found Turel. "He's all yours," Seacia said. They could see Turel wasn't the least bit frightened, or at least he appeared not to be. Lunging at him with the physical soul reaver, Raziel fought with Turel for several minutes before sticking the weapon through his torso.  
"There's only one more left. His destiny awaits him." They reached the circular room which was to be the resting place of Raziel and his brothers. In the center was Raziel as a Sarafan warrior priest himself. Without a word from either of them, Raziel stepped forward to face the Sarafan.  
"So, you've killed my brothers in your attempt to retrieve the demon's heart. I warn you, I am not as easily dealt with," he said as raised his sword to the other Raziel.  
"That is yet to be seen. Your merciless part in this crusade ends here and now," and the two Raziel's began their fight to the death. Seacia watched the un-undead Raziel battle, arms crossed and leaning against a column. She sensed another presence in the room and caught a glimpse of white hair and a red cape. Kain? What was he doing here? She would have been asking him those very same questions had it not been for the fact that Raziel spoke the words "I renounce you," as he impaled the Sarafan warrior with the blade. Suddenly, the blade seemed to have a mind of its own and turned itself on Raziel. He tried to block it from him, but it was no use. The soul reaver, with his hand still attached, had impaled Raziel. In fear, Seacia couldn't move. Staring in shock at this event, she couldn't think straight enough to run to his aide and pull the reaver from his body. Fortunately, Kain did that for her. When he pulled the sword from his body, he let out a cry of agony. She gained some common sense back and ran to his side.  
"Now, Raziel, you free to reclaim your true destiny!" Kain exclaimed. Then the floor began to shake, and when it stopped, Kain said, "My god...the Hyldans!...we fell right into their trap..." He turned to Raziel, who was dazed, and grabbed his shoulders saying "Raziel! Janos must stay dead!" At his last words, Raziel disappeared into the spectral realm. 


	3. The Edge of the Coin III

Ryoken: When the night brings surprises, make sure to look past it's illusions.  
  
The Edge of the Coin: Part III  
by Ryoken  
  
"What have you done with him, Kain?!" Seacia yelled as she leapt at Kain's throat.  
"I have done nothing with Raziel, Seacia! He seems to have slipped into the spectral realm." He must have said it quickly, she was inches from his throat.  
"The spectral realm...Where can I find him once he re-enters the material realm?!"  
"I don't know, Seacia. But I have a feeling your question needn't be answered," he said as he looked up. For there was Raziel, standing on the second floor of that soon-to-be crypt, looking down upon them as if nothing had ever happened.   
"Raziel, are you alright?" She asked coolly.  
"Yes, I am fine, thanks to Kain. Why did you save me, Kain? I would have thought you would enjoy seeing me play out my so-called destiny."  
"No, Raziel. That is no where near your true destiny. That was taken from you by Moebius. As was mine. I saved you because it is your destiny to restore the corrupted guardians of the Pillars, including me. So you see, Raziel, that you are the key to Nosgoth's future. As Janos said, the Pillars are the lock, and the reaver is the key. We must hurry to the Pillars before-"  
"Before I find what you are up to, Kain?" came a voice from the darkness.  
"Moebius!" Seacia said.  
"Ahh, strange one, we meet again," though no one could see him, Seacia could tell that there was a smile on that serpent's despicable face. "And where has your journey brought you thus far?"  
"And why would you like to know, venomous snake?"  
"Simply out of curiosity, my dear."  
"And why might that be, Moebius? Can't you see it with your damned visions?!" Raziel thundered.  
"Actually Raziel, I cannot. Strangely enough, her path is never detected, like as if she had brushed away the trail. Or as if she had never existed," he said as he stepped out from the darkness, staff in hand. Kain plummeted to the ground, unable to move by the spell that the staff caused. Raziel's reaver was disabled as well. "See how you old master lies upon the ground, unmoving and paralyzed? Now take into consideration this creature. She isn't harmed by it at all, no matter how close I get. There is something about her that I do NOT like. Now, kill Kain before I summon Malek to do it for you," he ranted.  
Raziel looked at Kain and then to Moebius, and clearly stated "No."   
"Fine then, my little assassin. MALEK!!!" He rang. But he did not come.  
"It appears your lackey can't hear you, Moebius. Or perhaps he is no more," Raziel said as he neared Moebius, eyes closing till they were only slits, white mist pouring from them. "By the sound of it, it seems Vorador is taking care of him and your fellow guardians." Moebius looked towards him with a look of terror on his face.  
"No Raziel. Do not forget your path. It's Kain's destiny to kill me, not yours!"  
"Not anymore, old man," he said as swiftly killed Moebius with a few swipes of his claws and destroyed the staff. Then the ground began to quake.   
"What is this, an earthquake?!" Seacia said as she fell to the ground.  
"No, history is reshuffling itself!" Kain said. The ground stopped quivering, and Seacia stood up.  
"Reshuffling?"  
"Yes. When a paradox could possibly be formed, history tries to maneuver around it by reshuffling itself."  
"I see."  
"Come, Raziel. We must hurry to the Pillars. Seacia, would do us the honor of joining us?" Kain bowed as he said this. She nodded an affirmative. "Good. I still do not know what your reason for being is, but I am sure we will find out. Place your hand on my shoulder, you two." They did as he commanded and he transported them to the Pillars. Kain walked up to the Pillars and placed his clawed hand upon the one that was supposed to be destined for him. "Raziel, the Soul Reaver is the key to unlocking all of the secrets here. And perhaps maybe even the secrets of Seacia." He turned to face Raziel and pointed at the emblem at his feet. As he approached the two, he explained "These Pillars hold secrets that have been sealed since the extinction of the winged beings that you happened to discover in the murals on the walls of the forges, Raziel. Here," he said as he held out the physical Soul Reaver, "intertwine the two blades once more, Raziel." Raziel was hesitant to hold that wretched blade for a second time.   
"It's...alright, Raziel," Seacia whispered. He glanced at her for a moment and took up the physical blade. The two intertwined once again, but this time, Raziel had full control of it.  
"Now, Raziel. Plunge the Reaver into the floor in the middle of this symbol," Kain instructed as he pointed at the ground. The symbol was two circles that crossed each other. He did as he was told and at that very moment, Seacia fell to the ground unconscious. Kain could see in Raziel's eyes that he was about to go to her side and said "No Raziel!! Stay where you are!! Just watch and see..." The wraith blade suddenly started to disappear and Raziel could feel it's strength leaving him. Suddenly, Raziel was flung back from the Soul Reaver and onto the grass. "Raziel, get back here!!" At these words, Raziel stood up, shaking off the small amount of pain from the rough landing, and scurried onto the gigantic cement circle that was the second base of the Pillars. Kain picked Seacia up in his arms.   
"What are you doing, Kain?" Raziel asked. But he did not answer and kept walking towards the Pillars. He called out his question again, but still, he did not answer. He finally laid her down in the middle of another symbol that was in front of the Pillar of Balance and stepped back to where Raziel stood. The ground beneath them shook violently and they could hardly keep their balance. Then, out of the symbols engraved on the Pillars, came what appeared to be souls. They all flew directly at Seacia. The souls seemed to lift Seacia's body in the air, upright, and created a circle around her. Kain and Raziel could only watch in astounded emotion as the souls entered her and she was engulfed in a golden flame. From the flames sprouted wings like that of Janos, but they were also in golden flame. She appeared to regain consciousness and looked herself over. She seemed to understand. She landed back down on the ground and approached Raziel and Kain. Raziel seemed to have a look of terror on his face, but Kain was utterly calm. From behind Kain's back, an orb of black mist appeared and Kain fell to the ground. Raziel looked at it with surprise and the orb flew straight towards Seacia. Enraged, Raziel withdrew the Soul Reaver from its position, leapt to the orb of mist, and slashed it. At the very same moment, Seacia raised her hand and a ray of light came from her clawed finger, piercing the orb and disintegrating it. Raziel looked at Seacia in wonder as she looked at him with mist rolling from her eyes, just the way that Raziel's do. She placed her hands on either side of Raziel's face and he immediately thought that he would burn in the golden flame. But instead, it was warm and soothing and for the first time in a long time, he felt at ease. He suddenly felt a tingling feeling surge through his body and when looked at himself, he was restored to his former vampiric state, wings and all(A.N: Yes he has clothes for those of you with little devil minds out there). She then kissed Raziel. He was about to pull her into a deeper one, but she pulled away. Then she faced Kain. When she got to him, he knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. She placed her hand on his bowed head and a dark mist seemed to generate from him. It gathered into a mass and finally into an orb that much was bigger than the last. Seacia stepped back a little, and then pointed both her hands at the orb and a tremendous amount of light came from them. The black orb screamed, in sheer torture, in a high pitched voice. It, too, dissolved. She took Kain's hand and helped him on his feet.  
"Sea...Seacia..." He appeared dazed. She nodded and began walking to the Pillars. Raziel looked at Kain and he was different in appearance as well. The veins that once appeared all over his skin were gone and he looked younger. The ground began to shake again and the Elder's voice rang out.   
"NO, I WILL NOT ALLOW ALL OF MY WORK TO DISSOLVED BEFORE MY EYES!!!!!!!!!!" And his tentacles broke through the ground and grabbed Seacia. But when he had touched her, he began to burn. "AAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!" he thundered as he quickly pull down the burning tentacle into the water below to try to extinguish it. But the water did nothing to stop the burning. It engulfed the Elder's squid-like body and he dissolved entirely. The earthquake ceased, and Raziel and Kain feared that in releasing whatever this thing was that had engulfed Seacia, they might have killed the very thing that gave and took all life. Seeing their horrified faces, Seacia spoke her first words since the golden flames covered her body. Her voice echoed in the clearing.  
"Do not worry about the Wheel of Fate. The Elder was not the hub of the wheel, as he so put it. I am," they both had an expression bewilderment. "There is no reason to be so surprised. As Moebius was his cunning and deceiving serpent, so was he."  
"You wanted answers, Raziel? This is who will give them to you," Kain said to him. So many question ran through his mind at that very moment, but only one stuck out in mind.  
"Will you stay in this world, Seacia?" The look on Kain's face was priceless. He then laughed heartily, saying "So the Reaver of Souls has grown attached to the Reaver of Fate!"   
Seacia only smiled and said "If that is your wish, then it shall be granted, but the Seacia that you knew will not remember anything that has happened here." She then flew up high, above Kain and Raziel's line of sight from the ground. There, she stretched forth her hands towards the sky and nine beams of light shot out from her and headed in opposite directions. The sky turned to a brilliant gold and everything was engulfed with white light. When the light finally dimmed, Seacia floated back to the ground and upon touching it, the golden flames receded, her wings dissolved, and fell unconscious to the ground.  
Raziel went up to her, and hesitated to touch her. Kain yelled out "Oh for the love of god, she's not going burst into flame, Raziel!" Raziel glared back at Kain in silence and picked her up in his arms. Kain had a small grin on his face. "There, you see? She isn't dangerous. You act like she's going to combust at any moment, Raziel!" He chuckled. Seacia made a noise and opened her eyes. Suddenly realizing what Raziel was doing, she tried to get out of his arms, resulting in falling on her face.   
As he helped her back to her feet, a question was aching to come from his lips. Raziel asked "What did you mean by the Reaver of Fate?"  
Kain was taken aback a touch, then responded "She was the edge of the coin that could restore Nosgoth and at the same time, save our race. You were merely the key to awakening her."  
"What are you two talking about?" Seacia asked "And what on earth happened to the both of you?!"  
"It is a long story in which we can tell when we return to our time. Is that not so, Kain?"  
"Yes, Raziel," Kain sighed. "Yes, indeed."  
  
Well peeps, what'dya think? Did you like it? Would you like to see more of Seacia? Want to know more of what happens? Please Review, your input would be greatly appreciated! 


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